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Blue Origin, founded by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, had to delay the eagerly awaited launch of its powerful launch vehicle on the weekend due to unfavorable weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.

Mission Postponement Reasons

Precipitation and a ground system issue led to initial delays, then came thick clouds as the 88-minute launch window closed, forcing mission controllers to push back the rocket’s planned second mission.

Competition between Blue Origin and Musk's space company has been heating up in recent months.

New Launch Window

To ease traffic in the skies during the government funding gap, the Federal Aviation Administration is restricting private space launches from the beginning of the week.

After scrubbing the mission, the company announced late Sunday that, working alongside the FAA, it was aiming for another attempt as early as midweek within a time slot of 2.50pm to 4.17pm Eastern Standard time.

Mission Objectives

Upon successful liftoff, the 98-meter tall launch vehicle will transport NASA’s Escapade twin spacecraft to Mars, in an effort to examine the planet’s climate history with the long-term goal of human exploration.

Blue Origin’s launch will also serve as a crucial trial of whether it can achieve booster recovery, which would represent a major advancement for the company if successful.

Previous Flight

New Glenn’s inaugural flight in the start of the year was considered a achievement, as its cargo reached space and completed tests.

But its first-stage booster, which was designed as reusable, did not stick its landing on a platform in the Atlantic, and ended up destroyed during the return phase.

Landing Attempts

For this new mission the launch provider will try once more to land the booster stage.

Thus far, only Musk’s company SpaceX has achieved that feat.

Space Race

The competing companies of tycoons Bezos and Musk are locked in a private sector space competition that has grown more intense lately, as NASA opened up proposals for its lunar exploration program, noting that SpaceX was lagging behind.

Donald Trump’s second term has seen the government push the agency to accelerate its timeline to launch astronauts to the Moon in competition against China.

More rivalry between the two firms could “expand our options with regard to launch.”

“More launches means greater innovation in space,” a former NASA chief technologist stated. “It isn't a bad thing to have Blue Origin, even trailing behind.”